Thermomix Sourdough Bread

(I used the TMX baguette recipe for this.)

Ingredients:
1. 330gm water
2. +/-500gm high protein bread flour
3. 150gm sourdough starter
4. Salt

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1. Place water into TMX jug and set 2min/37C/speed 2.

2. Add the flour, salt and sourdough starter and knead for 3 mins.

3. Place the dough into a bowl and let it rise.

4. Once it has risen, punch it back down and place it in the fridge for 24 hours.

5. Line a baking tray with baking paper.

6. Take out the dough from the fridge and knock the dough back down and place it on the baking tray. Allow it to rise for another 2 hours. Using a sharp knife, cut some lines on the top of the dough.

7. Preheat oven at 250C.

8. Bake for approximately 35mins or until golden brown.

9. Allow to cool.

Bon appetit!

Thermomix Water Roux (Tangzhong)

There is a technique called the "Tangzhong method" which is used in Asian baking. By adding this "Tangzhong/water roux" to the dough, the bread/buns will be extra soft, lighter and fluffier.

The water roux starter is made up of water and flour. It is then cooked at 65 degrees until the starch starts to gelatinize.

Before I had my Thermomix, I made the water roux using the gas stove. It was tedious as I had to stir it continuosly in order for it to gelatinize. One must be alert to not burn this too!

Now with the TMX, making the water roux is a breeze!

Ingredients:

1. 100gm plain flour
2. 500gm water

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1. Place both ingredients into the TMX jug. Set 30mins/65C/speed 1. (I have done it at 70C too.)

2. Once it is done, pour the water roux into a container/bowl to allow it to cool. Use it as desired. I kept the extra in the fridge. Bear in mind if you keep it too long, it will turn grey-ish in colour. It has gone bad.

I did not want to waste this. I made bread dough with whatever that was left in the TMX jug.

Croutons!

Ingredients:

1. 4 slices of bread (old bread) 

- many recipes remove the crusts. I did not as I did not want to waste them.

2. Butter

3. Sea-salt

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1. Line a baking tray with baking paper.

2. Preheat oven at 180C. 

3. Place the 4 slices of bread on the baking paper.

4. Spread butter over the bread generously. 

5. Sprinkle some sea-salt.

6. Cut the bread into cubes.

7. Place in oven and bake for 20 mins (or until golden brown and crispy).

8. Allow to cool.

9. Keep in airtight container. 

10. You can enjoy them with soup or eat them on their own.

Bon appetit!

Thermomix Purple-Carrot Bread

Ingredients:

1. 85gm purple carrot (skin peeled)

2. 200gm water
3. 400gm organic high-protein strong bread flour
4. 30gm oil
5. 1/2 teaspoon yeast
6. A pinch of salt
7. 1 teaspoon of sugar
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1. Place carrot into TMX jug and set 10seconds/speed 6.

2. Scrape down the sides of the jug.

3. Add 200gm of water and set turbo 2 seconds.

4. Add the sugar and the yeast.

5. Set 2mins/37C/Speed 1.

6. Add 400gm flour, salt and oil.

7. Knead for 3 minutes.

8. Set aside and allow it to rise/double in size. (*Wet your hands when handling dough.)

9. Line a loaf tin with baking paper. Knock the dough down and place the dough into the baking tin and allow it to rise again.

10. Preheat oven to 180C.

11. Bake for 25 minutes or until golden brown.

12. Set aside to cool before serving.

Bon appetit!

Thermomix Pandan Flavoured Bread

Ingredients:

1. 50gm sunflower oil
2. 80gm milk
3. 1/2 teaspoon yeast
4. 1 teaspoon of brown sugar
5. 1/2 teaspoon of sea-salt
6. 20gm of pandan leaves extract (for recipe, click on the LINK)
7. 400gm of organic high-protein bread flour

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1. Place the milk, oil, yeast and sugar into the TMX jug.

2. Set 2minutes/37C/Speed 2.

3. Then add the pandan extract.

4. Set 2 minutes/Speed 1.

5. Add the flour and salt.

6. Set the kneading function for 3 minutes. (If the dough is too crumbly, add some water until it forms a smooth dough. If it is too wet, add some flour until it becomes smooth.)

7. Knead for another 5 minutes.

8. Pour the dough out onto an oiled bowl. Leave it aside for approximately two hours for it to rise.

9. Once it has risen, knock it back down.

10. Divide the dough into two parts, place them into loaf pans and allow it to rise again.

11. Preheat the oven at 180C.

12. Bake for approximately 1/2 hour or until it is golden brown.

13. Once done, allow it to cool before slicing the bread.

Bon appétit!

Sugar Butter Buns

Ingredients:

1. 270gm of organic strong bread flour
2. 30gm of organic all-purpose flour
3. 5gm of fine sea-salt
4. 2 teaspoons of instant yeast
5. 30gm of sugar (optional)
6. 50gm of unsalted butter
7. 100ml of milk
8. 2 eggs
9. 100ml of water

For the buns' topping:

1. 100gm of butter
2. 50gm of granulated sugar

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1. Whisk together the eggs, water and milk in a bowl.

2. In a large mixing bowl, pour the flours, sugar, yeast and salt. Mix them.

3. Make a well in the centre of the flour mixture and pour in the wet mixture.

4. Mix everything together and knead the dough.

5. Incorporate the butter into the dough and fold and knead until dough is soft, pliable and smooth (about 15 to 20 minutes).

6. If the dough is sticky, add a bit of flour and continue kneading.

7. Put the dough aside and let it rise for an hour.

8. Knock the risen dough down and knead again.

9. Line a baking tray with baking paper.

10. Preheat oven at 180C.

11. Break the dough into 12 small round pieces.

12. Flatten the little pieces of dough and let them rise.

13. Slit all 12 pieces of dough and place pieces of butter in the slits. Sprinkle the granulated sugar over them.

14. Bake for about 20 minutes or until golden brown.

15. Allow to cool before serving.

Bon appétit!

Mini Bread Balls

Ingredients:

1. 1 tablespoon of active dried yeast
2. 300ml of lukewarm water
3. 450 of organic strong white bread flour
4. 1 teaspoon of sea-salt
5. 1 teaspoon of soft brown sugar
6. 30ml of sunflower oil
7. 1 egg (beaten - for glaze)
8. 30gm of butter (soften at room temperature)

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1. Combine the yeast and warm water in a small bowl. Mix them together and leave aside until the yeast becomes frothy.

2. Pour the flour, salt and sugar in a large mixing bowl.

3. Add the yeast, sunflower oil and butter to the flour and mix them together.

4. Knead the dough until smooth.
    * Add more flour if it is too mushy. If too dry, add some warm water.

5. Cover the mixing bowl with a clear plastic film. Leave it in a warm place to rise for 45 minutes.

6. Line two baking trays with baking paper.

7. Tear marble sized balls from the dough and roll then into round shapes.

8. Place them on the baking tray.

9. Brush the egg glaze over the mini bread balls.

10. Leave the mini bread balls aside for about 10 minutes to let them rise.

11. Preheat over to 180C.

12. Bake for about 40 minutes or until it is crunchy.

13. You can serve them warm. If you want to keep them, place them in an airtight container and keep it in the fridge. It can be kept for 2 months.

Bon appétit!

The Rice-Cooker Bread

Someone posted this on FB and I was immediately captivated by the idea. I cook practically everyday with my rice pot! Why not make bread with it????

I tweaked the recipe a bit and made a wholemeal version instead. I also used sunflower oil instead of butter.

Ingredients:

1. 350g of organic wholemeal flour
2. 1/2 a cup of organic cow milk powder
3. 1/4 cup of sunflower oil
4. 1 tablespoon of soft brown sugar
5. 1/2 cup of warm water
6. 5g of active dry yeast
7. 1/2 teaspoon of sea-salt

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1. In a medium sized bowl, add the warm water, a dash of brown sugar and yeast. Wait for about 15 minutes for the yeast to froth.

2. Pour the flour, milk powder, sugar, salt, yeast water and sunflower oil into the rice pot.

3. Mix all ingredients.

4. Knead until dough is smooth and elastic.

5. Put aside in a warm place for 1 hour to allow the dough to rise.

6. Punch it back down and place it aside for another 1 hour.

7. Once it has risen a second round, you can start cooking your bread.

8. Choose the 'cooking rice' function and cook for 1 hour.

9. Once the first hour is up, turn the bread over and cook for another 1 hour.

10. I only cooked mine for two hours though the original recipe required 3 hours. Serve hot once the bread is done! You can either eat it plain or with some butter.

Bon appétit!

Below is the YouTube video on how to make rice cooker bread. Happy cooking!

Salicylate-Free Organic Wholemeal+Buckwheat Bread

Ingredients:

1. 300gm organic wholemeal flour
2. 250gm organic buckwheat flour
3. 1 1/2 tablespoons of active dry yeast
4. A teaspoon of sea-salt
5. A teaspoon of soft, brown sugar
6. 1 1/2 cups of warm water
7. 1/4 cup of sunflower oil

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1. Sieve the wholemeal flour and the buckwheat flour into a very large mixing bowl.

2. Add the yeast, sea-salt, sugar, sunflower oil and water to the sieved flour.

3. Mix all ingredients thoroughly.

4. Knead the dough until it is smooth. If it is too soft, add some flour and knead until it is smooth. If it is too dry, add some warm water and knead until smooth.
(*Buckwheat flour is more sticky than the normal bread flour)

5. Cover the bowl with a cling-wrap or a damp towel for about 2 hours until the dough has doubled in size.

6. Knock the dough back down and knead it again for about 20 minutes.

7. Divide the dough into half and allow it to rise again for about 1 hour.

8. Preheat oven at 190C.

9. Grease 2 loaf tins with some sunflower oil.

10. Put the dough into the loaf tins and bake for about 45 minutes or until slightly browned.

11. Allow to cool

Bon appétit!

Note: The usual buckwheat bread recipes use milk. I substituted milk with sunflower oil instead as I have lactose intolerance and am somewhat sensitive to something in the fresh milk. Salicylate is negligible in sunflower oil.

The Making of Chemical-Free Chicken Balls

Those yummy-licious chicken balls which are sold in supermarkets and in the wet markets are packed with all sorts of chemicals. Full of flavorings, preservatives and MSG which will definitely trigger an anaphylaxis attack for me. So it's home made chicken balls for me! Below is the recipe:

Ingredients:

1. Minced chicken breasts (500g)

2. All purpose flour (50g)

3. Sunflower oil (2 tablespoons)

4. Bread crumbs

5. 1/2 teaspoon of salt

6. 1/2 teaspoon of brown sugar

7. Pepper

8. Finely chopped garlic and shallots*

9. Finely grated carrots/finely chopped cabbage/finely chopped chives*

*Optional

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1. Add ingredients number 1 to 7 into a large bowl and mix all of them thoroughly.

2. If you want the chicken balls to have different tastes, you can mix them with either carrots (which is MODERATE in salicylates, that is IF you can tolerate them) or cabbage (which is NEGLIGIBLE in salicylates). You can also use finely chopped garlic and shallots. It will give the chicken balls a distinct taste/flavour.

3. You can either fry or steam the chicken balls.

Minced chicken with finely grated carrots

Ingredients 1 to 7 in a bowl

The uncooked PLAIN chicken balls

Fried chicken balls with finely grated carrots

Plain chicken balls cooked with potatoes

Happy cooking!

Here is the recipe to the making of chemical-free fish balls.

Rough Days

It started on Monday night. I felt dizzy and very light-headed and knew that my blood pressure was low. Sure enough, the reading was 93/68. I went to bed early and thought it was caused by the exhaustion of the three weeks of driving and being on my feet constantly at Joel's school. And then I had dreams about pain. Non-stop dreams about pain. And then I woke up at 2.30am and the pain that was in my head was excruciating. I wished that the pain could be exorcised out! I was having a severe reaction! I immediately got up and swallowed a tablet of Xyzal and Zrtytec each to stop it from escalating into an anaphylaxis attack. I woke my hubby up and he had to massage my head to numb the pain. The mouth started to burn and the usual reactions started manifesting. I even had my Epi-Pen on standby.

The only thing that I could think of that caused this reaction was the fish I had for dinner. I have noticed that sometimes fish can cause a near-anaphylaxis attack for me. Many months back I ate salmon and had an attack within 1 hour! But this does not happen all the time. Sometimes it happens. Sometimes it does not. Maybe it is the histamine that is in the fish that is causing the reactions. And with the body being taxed out and exhausted, my immune system was more susceptible to a reaction.

I was in bed the whole of yesterday. I was very drugged and drowsy from the anti-histamines. And the stomach wasn't feeling too well. It always ends up with loose bowels and stomach upset and discomfort.

I was in better shape this morning. But then the pain in my head returned with vengeance before noon and the stomach was extremely queasy and in great discomfort. I could't finish my lunch nor dinner today. And the insides of my ears felt swollen. And the pressure build-up in both ears was so uncomfortable. I had actually planned to do lots of baking today. And the best part was the butter was already melting in room temperature and the dough was already mixed with yeast. I swallowed 2 Xyzals after my so-called 'lunch' and did the baking.

So these were what I baked today. And thank God they turned out fine and yummy though I wasn't feeling fine.

Marble, butter sponge cake

I used cocoa powder for the marble effect.

Twisty high protein bread

Who can resist home-made crackers? :)

I am really grateful that I have my writing to keep me sane when bad days strike. Days when I can't go out to the garden or when I have no songs to sing. I will be going to the hospital tomorrow to get a refill of my medication and also to get my ears checked out. Goodnight!

It's All About Buckwheat

I ran out of home-made bread and buns. I was one very hungry person this morning. So I made biscuits, buns and bread today. And I plan to have my bread for breakfast tomorrow with my soya+oats milk! Yummy!

Here is the recipe for the food I made today.

Ingredients:

1. 1 cup of buckwheat flour
2. 1 cup of wholemeal flour
3. 1 cup of high-protein bread flour
4. A pinch of salt
5. 1 tablespoon of dry active yeast
6. A teaspoon of brown sugar
7. A bowl of warm water (400ml)
8. Sunflower oil (1/2 cup)
9. 4 bananas

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Buckwheat Biscuits and Buns

1. Mix the brown sugar and warm water until the sugar has dissolved.

2. Add the yeast to the mixture and let it stand until the mixture becomes frothy.

3. Sieve all the 3 flours and salt into a large bowl.

4. Mix the yeast mixture into the flour mixture and start kneading.

5. As you knead, add in the sunflower oil a bit at a time.

6. Take out 1/3 of the (not fully kneaded dough) and place it in another bowl.

7. Continue to knead the remaining dough until it is smooth.

8. Cover the bowl with cling-wrap or a damp towel and let the dough sit for 1 1/2 to 2 hours until it has doubled in size.

9. Divide the dough into half.

10. With the first half, make lots of tiny balls out of it. Then take some flour and roll it between both hands until it resembles a baby snake.

11. You can also make snail shapes too. Just turn the long strands around until it resembles a snail.

12. Place them on baking trays and bake them at 180C for 40 minutes or until crunchy and crispy.

13. When these are in the oven, take the remaining half of the divided dough and make balls the size of a tablespoon. Place them on another baking tray.

 Before baking

Fresh from the oven

14. These are baked at 200C for 25 minutes.

Banana Buckwheat Bread

1. Mash the bananas and add them to the 1/3 dough which was separated into another bowl.

2. Mix the mashed bananas and the dough together and knead it until it is smooth.

3. Pour the mixture into a greased tin or a tin lined with foil.

4. Bake this at 200C for 25 minutes or until browned.

Today's buckwheat baking accomplishments! I will be trying buckwheat pancakes and pasta noodles on another day.

Home-Made Baked Potato Pie

I have been wanting to make this dish again for a very long time now. But the tiredness and exhaustion has been causing me to shelf a lot of things which I have been wanting to do for awhile.

So today, despite of the tiredness from fighting this flu (which had me coughing the whole night like a barking dog), I persevered on and made this salicylate-free dish. Even my son commented that I have not made this in a LONG time now. And hubby and son said 'YUMS!' I guess that one word says it all. It was worth the effort! And yes, even with my non-functioning taste buds, it was YUMS!

Ingredients:

1. 10 to 12 medium sized old potatoes
2. Celery (3 to 4 sticks should be sufficient)
3. 3 large eggs
4. 200 to 300 gm of minced chicken
5. 2 to 3 slices of bread (I used my homemade wholemeal + buckwheat bread)
6. Salt
7. Sunflower oil
8. Butter

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1. Peel the potatoes and put them in a pot of water and boil them till they are soft enough to be mashed.
2. Boil the eggs till they are hard-boiled.
3. Grate the celery sticks.
4. Mix the celery with the minced chicken.
5. Tear the bread into small pieces.
6. Mix the bread with the minced chicken and celery. 
7. Season the minced chicken, celery and bread with some sea salt and pepper. 
8. Peel the hard-boiled eggs and cut them into half and place them on the dish.
9. Preheat oven at 230 C.
10. Once the potatoes are soft, take them out of the pot. Mash them a bit and then add butter (about 30g), some salt, pepper and sunflower oil and continue mashing them.
11. Spread the mashed potato over the dish evenly.
12. Bake the dish for approximately 30 minutes or until mashed potatoes are slightly browned.
13. Serve it warm with bread, pasta or rice. You can even eat it on its own!
14. Bon Appetit!

Boil potatoes till soft

Grate the celery

Mash the potatoes

The finished product!

Bon Appetit!

A Day of Cooking & Baking

I had actually planned to go out today with my guys to do some organic grocery shopping. But I was feeling tired. So we stayed at home and I did lots of cooking and baking. And the guys helped with kneading the dough! (And eating too!)

I made a special dish for the guys. It's bean paste cooked with chicken and organic 'fu chok' or otherwise known as 'bean curd skin'. I have not cooked this dish in a very long time. The bean paste is bought from an organic shop.

I also made fried bitter-gourd with eggs and fish cakes for myself! Yum-yum!

I baked a wholemeal + buckwheat bread. I used buckwheat flour for the first time. And it gave the bread a very nice flavour. I also baked 2 trays of oat crunchies. And the cooking and baking took me 6 hours!!! I am going to snore tonight! Haha...

Fried bittergourd with eggs

Beanpaste chicken with 'fu chok'

Home made fish cake!

Oat Crunchies

Wholemeal + Buckwheat Bread